Wednesday, January 21, 2009

I'm sure you all heard Obama's speech today. It's was pretty good in my opinion. So here's another one. FDR's speech from 1933. You've heard the soundbite of "The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself". But the whole speech is very good, addressing the economic crisis of his time.

Things get a little strange at the end, where he says that if Congress doesn't act, then he'll ask for "supreme executive power" to give him the same authority he'd have if we were at war. We saw what an unchecked Executive branch got us and it wasn't good. But the speech is great otherwise.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Tomorrow marks the start of a new administration. I am mighty pleased with that. I have slogged through the last 8 years, just like you, with a sense of dread about our President and what he and his minions were doing. I watched the news reports, read the papers, listened to the pundits and saw the results. And the results were not pretty.

Not that we ever really saw the results of these wrong policies. We were spared the painful images.

We weren't allowed to see caskets coming home from Iraq.We were lied to about how Pat Tillman was killed by friendly fire.We got a glance at the Abu Gahraib photos, but there were worse.The video tapes of waterboarding were 'accidentally' destroyed.

And the images we were shown were often lies.When the administration got in front of a camera and told us that:

There were no CIA Black Sites in Europe.We did not perform extraordinary rendition or torture prisoners.We did not hand prisoners over to countries that DID torture.We did not tap Americans phones without a FISA warrantThat the war in Iraq would be over in 6 months, pay for itself, would have us greeted as liberators...

All lies.

They said Sadam worked with Al Qaida, had yellowcake, was building WMD's - none of it was so.

They showed us film of New Orleans and said they were raping babies and killing each other like savages at the dome- but that was wrong.

They say that the equal housing opportunity act caused the financial collapse, but that isn't true.

The list of cock ups goes on and on. The list of things that were done right, or without too much damage is very very small. This is why I am glad to see these Jackals leave. They have broken this nation. They have beaten the crap out of our nations image at home and abroad. Can it be fixed? I truly hope so. I love this country. Far all its flaws and foibles I am, at heart, a flag waving softie. I have traveled the world, and while there are places with wondrous sites that have tempted me to consider leaving there's no place like home.

Tomorrow Obama starts a new job. Two days later we go to Chattanooga for our first show of the season. Wish us both luck...